Sometimes, it just feels like your season. When you fail to turn up in the biggest game of the season until the 30th minute but still win, it feels like your season. When you put together a season-defining comeback and then surpass it exactly seven days later, it feels like your season.
Leeds United took another giant leap towards the Premier League in South Yorkshire on Monday night. There are still 12 matches to navigate but it is impossible to ignore the hallmarks of a team who are marching to promotion, if not the Championship title itself.
Supporters must have felt like they were floating as they wandered out of Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane and up the 36-mile stretch home to Leeds. The unique burst of adrenaline generated by wins like Monday’s will have put paid to plenty shut-eye.
Just as sleeping patterns were returning to normal following last week’s Elland Road exploits against Sunderland, United’s special brand of intoxication delivered another hit for the away end. For those who have been chasing the adrenaline rush since the Joe Rothwell and Pascal Struijk-inspired heroics against Sunderland last time out, Daniel Farke’s side came up with the goods once again.
These are the experiences, the wins, you gladly pay for in sleep every chance you get as a supporter. Coming from behind to knock Sunderland out of the title race eight seconds from the end of a 95-minute game was supposed to be euphoria unmatched in 2024-25. Leeds bottled lightning a second time in seven days.
Jayden Bogle and his Leeds team-mates celebrate their 3-1 win over Sheffield United (George Wood/Getty Images)
This was a harder assignment. Leeds were on the road, with a fraction of the support they had at Elland Road one week earlier. Second-placed Sheffield United were an upgrade on fourth-placed Sunderland. They were without their two leaders, Ethan Ampadu (injured) on the pitch and Farke (banned) on the touchline. It felt like Leeds had to come from further back at Bramall Lane, too.
They trailed 1-0 at half-time in both games but, on expected goals (xG), Chris Wilder’s side led 1.09 to 0.28 on Monday night, whereas last week, Leeds had the edge at the break, leading 0.52 to 0.40 on xG against Regis Le Bris’s outfit. As with the Sunderland clash, the relief of getting back to 1-1, having stared defeat in the face, was palpable.
A draw on the road against the second-best team in the division would have been a fine result. More than once, post-match, Wilder said even the home support would have shaken hands on a 1-1 in the 89th minute after Junior Firpo had cancelled out Ilan Meslier’s unfortunate own goal. To then win the game by two clear goals from Ao Tanaka and Joel Piroe was beyond comprehension, as evidenced by the mass of elbows and knees rippling across the away end.
This was real adversity that Leeds overcame. First, their preparations were hit by the distressing news of Ampadu’s second serious knee injury of the season (Farke will provide finer details later in the week after a scan). These were professionals keen to get on with the job at hand but you cannot overestimate the blow of losing a leader like that.
Tanaka watches his header put Leeds 2-1 ahead (George Wood/Getty Images)
Then there was also the large void in the technical area usually filled by their commander-in-chief. These absences, these crutches so often used to share the team’s load, were only compounded by the woeful start that Leeds made.
“We didn’t start brave into this game,” Farke said post-match. “We didn’t play with courage and were a bit too nervous with unnecessary losses of the ball. If you’re not switched on in possession, then it also happens that you’re not switched on against the ball.”
Leeds froze in the opening 30 minutes, without two of their most vital personnel, away from home against their biggest promotion rivals, but they came through it. They survived and will grow from this experience. They stayed patient and slowly wound up the pressure to the point there only looked like one winner in the closing 10 minutes.
It’s the last 10 minutes of games that is proving so decisive for the league leaders. According to Opta statistician Jonny Cooper, Leeds have scored 11 league goals from the 89th minute onwards this season. That’s more than any other side in the top four tiers of English football. That persistence, fitness, ball-domination and ingenuity have Leeds on course for more than 100 points and 96 goals scored at their current trajectory.
The true impact of these gripping wins is best seen in the points swing. If Leeds had lost both of these games, as looked distinctly possible, Sheffield United would now be league leaders on 73 points. Leeds would be four points back in second, with Burnley then only one point behind in third. Who knows how Sunderland might have fared against Hull City if they had held on against Leeds too?
As it is, Leeds are now 13 points clear of Le Bris’s team, seven clear of Burnley and five away from Wilder’s side. The lasting impact of this loss on Sheffield United will be intriguing to monitor. As much as the comeback buoys Leeds, it will be a hammer blow for the losers, having led for so long in such a high-stakes meeting.
West Bromwich Albion await Leeds next. After them, only one of their final 11 opponents is currently in the top 10. The beauty of the Championship is that anyone can beat anyone and none of these games are played on paper. United have to take care of business but they have the momentum and the fixture list to suggest this may well be their season.
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
